Zombie Ship Shows US Targeting Darkest Corner of Oil Fleet (1)

A 27-year-old crude tanker that was supposedly scrapped in 2021 is due to reach Venezuela late this week, according to ship-tracking data, in the latest example of how the South American country keeps its embattled oil industry alive.

The tanker identifying itself as Freesia I is likely to be a zombie vessel, meaning it is in fact another tanker assuming the identity of a dismantled ship. This tactic is occasionally employed by boats ferrying sanctioned oil to obscure their trajectories and cargoes.

Venezuela’s oil industry, once a global powerhouse, has been decimated by years of sanctions and underinvestment. But it ...